Selective call radio receivers such as pagers are used to alert a user of a message. Such devices generally incorporate a radio receiver capable of producing either an audible alerting signal which may be heard by the user or a vibrating sensation which may be felt by the user. Some pagers provide the additional features of a voice message following the audible alert or a message visually displayed on a screen.
Each selective call receiver is identified by a specific receiver address that typically precedes each message. When a selected selective call receiver receives a message, the message is stored within memory, and a message address identifying where that message is stored is placed in one of a plurality of slots within memory. Each slot is a designated area of memory for receiving one message address and each selective call receiver typically has a predetermined number of slots.
However, when the slots are already occupied and another message is received, typically the earliest message and its message address are deleted and the newly received message is stored and its message address is placed in that slot. This is undesirable since the user of the selective call receiver may not have read the deleted message or the message may contain information that the user will require at a later time.
Thus, what is needed is a method of storing messages in a selective call receiver comprising the steps of transferring the message address of a previously received message from one of a predetermined number of slots into a file, and storing a new message and its message address in one of the slots.